The purpose of this three-year national study to be conducted by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) will be to increase the knowledge regarding services to the mentally ill elderly by describing the role of state mental hospitals in providing care and treatment for the elderly mentally ill. Existing NASMHPD and NIMH databases will be analyzed to determine patterns of state hospital usage for the population age 65 and over, and to describe the services provided to this patient group. Case studies will be conducted in selected states to identify and describe the environmental, situational, and policy variables which impact upon the state mental health agency's use of state hospitals for this population. The analysis of the databases will be integrated with case study findings to describe the extent of state hospital use by the elderly, the characteristics of this population, and the fiscal, policy, administrative, and service implications. This research will provide SMHAs with the necessary information not currently available to develop effective programs for seriously mentally ill elderly persons and determine appropriate roles of state hospitals for this population group.